May 7, 2009
Regardless of Aesthetics - Design Critique
Recently, acrobat.com has release new tools, altogether, a combination of three recently launched online services: Adobe Brio (online meetings), Adobe Buzzword (online word processor), and Adobe Share (online file sharing). Thus with the public beta launch of Acrobat.com, Adobe is taking on Google Docs, Microsoft Office Live Workspace, WebEx, and GoTo Meeting—all at the same time.
Brio is a light version of Adobe Acrobat Connect. It lets up to three people have online meetings for free, with screen sharing, desktop video, voice conferencing, chat, white-boarding. You can add in a regular toll line for a fee. Anyone with a Mac is going to love this. All the documents on Acrobat.com are organized in what up until now has been Adobe Share. The document and file-sharing service now offers five gigabytes of free storage, and lets you embed documents in a widget on other sites across the Web.
Aesthetics: A+++, if not more, it is intuitive, organic and follows every key point in designing for the the users. The service is still in Beta testing, but so is google docs. Compared to googledocs and its bright white background, acrobat.com is easier on the eye.
Usability: A++, there is one reason these guys design the best creative suite in the industry... by paying attention to user feedback and keeping uniformity throughout their product line.
Audience: Well, even though it is well designed, my appeal is that I use their software all the time and I feel comfortable with the flow and positioning of the tools. I can relate and so can anyone who has had experience with any of their products.
The Final Countdown
I see an great use of Web 2.0 Technologies which we have covered over the semester to aid the delivery of instructional material to the learners and instructors.
Designing such framework has been characterized by our reading: A Whole New Mind which I seem to stress in my project more and more. I am thinking creatively. As for the design, I am working on it, and with time I hope to implement concepts of The Design of Everyday Things to create learning project for others to follow.
Project management seems to play a key role thus far.
Apr 29, 2009
The Project - A look back
Project management is a key element in everything that needs to be done. From the small things in our mundane everyday life-- to the big unveiling of the next big product. I am fascinated by the amount of work, time and some times human resource it takes to put things together-- even more when projects are done in a time constrain matter.
I think of my self as a planner; however, sometimes I feel like I could benefit from taking some project management training. At work, some times I can see our supervisors relegating work all day long, and I wonder if that is a characteristic of a project manager. However, things get done, and that is ultimately the job of the project manager, get it done.
Apr 24, 2009
Week 12 - User Interface Do's and Don't
Today in class we discussed the importance of the learning experience in relation to how the user will respond, how much information will the user obtain, how is the user going to get the information and reason on the importance to develop for your audience. As a graphic designer, I could not agree more.
Whenever I start any project I usually do a preliminary research on the audience based on the message or the objective of the message. After mock up is done, I usually find a person (friend, colleague) to critique it and get some feedback. Then, based on feedback I usually go back to whatever stage of the design needs improvement. Sometimes I end up starting from scratch and sometimes it just a need of little touches here and there.
Three key factors for developing learning objective in any media are:
The User experience:
- Does it appeal to the audience?
- Does reach the goal?
Information Flow:
- Will user find everything at hand?
- Will it make sense for the student?
- Does info required flow? Does it carry on?
- Is the information or lesson plan scalable for advance lesson plan?
Intuitive Design:
- Start with what works and then make it look pretty to appeal---not to distract
- Access information on one click/action
- Map, map, content map
I must say designing learning modules is not an easy task and requires a high level of technical user experience experience, so to say, but to summarize the concept of design we must strategize on what the best technical and user-experience assets are for an online meeting/collaboration site to develop the most effective visuals, questions, and overall level of engagment. Ideally, users should be able to pull out the most significant aspects of the product and really highlight those features on the home page as well as elsewhere in the site.
Apr 23, 2009
Apr 16, 2009
Final Project Idea
The Project
I volunteer at a couple of not-for-profit organizations in Marin. I teach English to adults at night once a week. I also teach computer classes to kids in low-income areas in Marin (yes, there are some areas believe it or not).
Some semesters; however, there are not enough volunteers and the staff is not very tech savvy either which limits the organization to the verge of closing doors or shut down projects. There is such a lack of communication between non-profits organization.
Can other organization in the Bay Area help? in New York? My idea is to create a site where all not-for-profit organizations can create, find, collaborate on ideas, projects that can help them find fast, cost effective ways to develop and attract more volunteers- as well as grant opportunitties. A non-profit network.